Thursday, April 26, 2012

Fall result In Weekly Visits

She was only 49 years old, cannot believe it could happen to her.  She and her husband had stopped to see their son and as she exited the vehicle she fell on ice and struck the back of her head.  She was unconscious for a bit but kind of seemed ok after while.  Her son's wife kept saying she did not sound like herself.  Well after a fall who would sound like them selves.  After a breif visit the couple left the sons home and drove to the husbands office where they picked up some papers.  They started the 2 hours drive home.

One hour in to the drive the husband started to realize his wife did not remember being at the sons home or stopping at his office in the last couple hours following her fall on the ice.  He pulled in to the next community hospital emergency room.  She was admitted from the ER to the ICU (intensive care unit) for head trauma, concussion and uncontrolled blood pressure.  Despite the fall the wife still felt she was fine to just go home. 

One day in the ICU and another on the med surg floor and she was discharged to home.  She was scheduled for out patient physical therapy and blood pressure monitoring.  She was to try to take it easy at home and to practise some patience.  She lives in a rural setting, and would be unable to drive a vehicle for a bit.  The husband was scheduled to spend 3 weeks on a job in southern illinois. 

The husband called Home Care Path explaining he had a ride for out patient physical therapy arranged, but really needed someone to check on his wife, as he was concerend about her safety and well being.  Home Care Path arranged for a weekly one hour home visit and twice daily phone calls just to check in.  During the home visit staff would help her with an ongoing list of things she felt were getting better or worsening.  Head pain, finding right words in conversation, feelings coming back about the fall and more. We discussed how some things made the pain better, and otheres made it worse, and how to proceed.  We discussed communicating this with the involved medical staff to keep them accurately updated on the condition.  She called her husband several times daily to discuss the progression of things since discharge from the hospital.

The husband has returned home, and she can now drive distances under 30 miles.  Home Care Path staff are discharged from the temporary weekly visits, but still call on occasion to just visit. She is doing well.

Home Care Path is a leading senior care provider serving south central Wisconsin.  Services include:
-in home staffing for elders
-inpatient advocacy for safe successful hospital stays
-transitional counseling when more structured service is needed
-down sizing home contents when stuff matters
-temporary assistance with a day surgical procedure
-communicating face to face on the computer across long distances
Simply call 608-432-4286 to schedule an in home interview.  We can be there when you are working.  Valuing home and human life.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Thomson Reuters Sells Health Care Unit

Thomson Reuters sold its health care unit to an affiliate of Veritas Capital for 1.25 billion dollars. The health care unit of Thomson Reuters specialized in health care information. Thomson Reuters health care unit provides fast moving data and analytics to large hospitals, government organizations, and industry insiders.

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) contracts with Thomson Reuters health care unit for packaged program management. Thomson Reuters health care unit packages program management through a comprehensive service that includes:
-cost containment
-budgeting
-supporting population health
-plan and providers statistics
-quality assurance
-program continuity

This challenges seniors to look at the health care model beyond the important relationship formed with clinical staff and a primary provider. Many avenues contribute to the care that is being delivered at the local clinic level.

Home Care Path is a leading senior care provider serving south central Wisconsin. Services include:
-in home staffing for elders
-inpatient advocacy for safe successful hospital stays
-transitional counseling when more structured service is needed
-down sizing home contents when stuff matters
-temporary assistance with a day surgical procedure
-talk face to face on computer across long distance
Simply call 608-432-4286 to schedule an in home interview. We can be there when you are workings. Services are tax deductible. Valuing home and human life.

Monday, April 23, 2012

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and VA

(PTSD) Post Traumatic Stress Disorder will continue to be a focus with returning military service personnel. Post traumatic stress disorder is a very tricky disease process. The individual has been traumatized. The trauma is recorded as energy and has residence in the persons being. This can be felt as a fear that constantly exists and has no known origin. Despite the mind persistently seeking the actual cause of the fear, it is not ever found. Because the cause of the fear cannot be found , the individual will begin to see things in the physical world as causing the fear. This is often called self treatment or taking action to control the fear. Actions can include alcohol abuse, increased or decreased food intake, drug use to name a few. The actions that an individual takes to help control the fear are actually symptoms of the disease process. The trauma has been recorded as energy in the individuals being and this energetic presence is constantly seeking expression. When the individual attempts to relax and fall asleep is an opportune time for the trauma recorded as energy to make itself known to the mind as uncomfortable unwanted thoughts. Initially alcohol may provide enough of a sedative to allow the person to experience some much needed sleep, rest.

A big part of treating an individual who has been traumatized is teaching them about how the disease process works. Therapists believe that if an individual can understand how the trauma is effecting them, the person can begin to have more control over their life. One can begin to understand that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is not a disease where the person makes a visit to a provider and leaves well, cured, or healed. The person walks out the door and the trauma recorded as energy goes right along with them. Home Care Path believes that the entire community benefits from being aware of how Post Traumatic Stress Disorder can affect an individual . The entire population that makes up the community has a responsibility to lend some much needed ongoing support in the care of indivudals who have been traumatized.

Home Care Path is a leading senior care provider serving south central Wisconsin. Services include:
- in home staffing for elders
-inpatient advocacy for safe successful hospital stays
-transitional counseling when more structured service is needed
-down sizing home contents when stuff matters
-temporary assistance with a day surgical procedure
-talk face to face on computer across long distance
Simply call 608-432-4286 to schedule an in home interview. 2012 rates are 20.00 per hour. We can be there when you are working. Valuing home and human life.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Utilizing Technology To Transcend Isolation

The primary result of todays expanding technology is the thwarting of isolation. Access to technology allows seniors to maintain those cherished family connections. Seniors residing in an assisted living facility with access to skype can communicate face to face across long distances to friends. This occurs on the computer screen in real time. Family have the ability to assess the seniors status through observation and conversation. A picture is worth a thousand words. And often provides an accurate sense of how things are going.

Hand held technology can be used for texting and emailing family at a convenient time. In a minute an important message can be sent to several friends. The emotional lift one can feel from a received communication lends a sense of how important our day to day connections really are.

A kindle is an electonic pad that allows the senior to receive the latest books. The senior can have access to the newest written material without having to run to the bookstore or library. The senior is able to read the book page by page right fron the electronic pad.

Today's technology is beneficial in keeping seniors connected and in the game of life. Home Care Path believes in utilizing technology to maintain long held connections and foster new ones.

Home Care Path is a leading senior care provider serving south central Wisconsin. Services include:
-in home staffing for elders
-inpatient advocacy for safe successful hospital stays
-transitional counseling when more structured service is needed
-down sizing home contents when stuff matters
-temporary assistance with a day surgical procedure
-communicating face to face on computer across long distances
Simply call 608-432-4286 to schedule an in home interview. We can be there when you are working. Valuing home and human life. Note Home Care Path is in process of transitioning to Microsoft Office 365.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Home Care Path "As Needed Status"

The senior was discharged from the hospital to home following treatment for a fall. Home Care Path staff came to the seniors home daily for a period of two weeks. Home Care Path staff helped with dressing, bathing, toileting, meals, laundry, ambulation, and garbage out. The tasks Home Care Path staff performed were helpful to the senior as well as the spouse. This extra assistance helped keep the spouse from getting run down.

The senior has gotten stronger and the family will now try a period without Home Care Path staff visiting. Home Care Path places the family on "As Needed Status". The senior is now in our system and staff can make visits as needed.

Later in the week the spouse calls to schedule staff to come and spend an afternoon with the senior so she can run some important errands. Available staff come in to assist the senior and the spouse is able to run the errands. The household remains on "As Needed Status" and the spouse reports a sense of security with having someone to contact when needed.

Home Care Path provides a flexible senior care service with custom plans that support the family and the houshold. Simply call 608-432-4286 to schedule an in home interview. 2012 rates are 20.00 per hour. Valuing home and human life. We can be there when you are working.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Forward Health Group Predictive Management

With the advancement of technology large health insurance providers are challenged to determine the proper use of all the data being collected on a daily basis. Dean Health Plan a large health insurance provider with all the hospital and clinic staff collecting patient information from communities in south central Wisconsin. All that information being collected should be utilized in a purposeful manner to benefit the people it is being collected from.

Forward Health Group a company from Madison Wisconsin delivers a service that assists large medical providers to participate in a predictive management strategy. Predictive management is a form of prevention. Forward Health Group would collaborate with medical providers adding the technological set that can be used to procure specifics from a large pool of data.

The technology would review existing collected information and identify persons in the group most at risk for a disease process. The technology is assisting the medical staff employed by the health insurance provider to predict the patients that will need help managing a disease process. The list of people identified by the technology as having risk for the disease process is then contacted by the health insurance plan with an offer to participate in a no cost program.

The no cost program involves medical staff calling the person , and scheduling a series of phone visits. The medical person uses the time on the phone visits to engage the person and facilitate a life style change to reduce the persons risk of harm from the predicted disease process. The health insurance provider hopes the person will participate in at home strategies (exercise, diet) and reduce their need for costly medical services.

This is a way to put preventive treatments into the hands of a patient that seems to need them the most. It clearly demonstrates the way technology is influencing the delivery of health care.

Home Care Path is a leading senior care provider serving south central Wisconsin. Services include:
-in home staffing for elders
-inpatient advocacy for safe successful hospital stays
-transitional counseling when more structured service is needed
-downsizing home contents when stuff matters
-temporary assistance with a day surgical procedure
-communicating face to face on the computer across long distances
Simply call 608-432-4286 to schedule an in home interview. We can be there when you are working. Valuing home and human life. Note Home Care Path is transitioning to microsoft office 365.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

See Home Care Path Senior Resources SC Wisconsin Directory Of Services For Older Adults

Home Care Path can be spotted on page 74 in the newly distributed 9th edition of the Senior Resources 2012 South Central Wisconsin Directory of Services For Older Adults. This is a comprehensive (176 pages) directory developed to assist older adults and family members locate available health care and housing options.

Information in the guide was collected from listed providers through questionaires and phone follow up. Senior Resources Inc. of Germantown Wisconsin is home to directory development and production.

Page 11 has a very thorough description of the Medicare program. Skillful explanation of Parts A, B, and D. Pertinent information that includes deductibles.

Categories of information can assist seniors and families to compare options which improves matching of services to desired needs. Information on options helps families to choose services that can improve the quality of the seniors life.

Home Care Path specializes in delivering services that support the household to best manage the progression of functional and memory changes that can require extra help. Maintaining stability with the least invasive strategies. Keeping seniors safe at home. Simply call 608-432-4286 to schedule an in home interview. 2012 rates are 20.00 per hour. Valuing home and human life.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Home Care Path Delivers Information

Home Care Path transfers data from the seniors home setting in a collaborative form that facilitates greater access to the treatments, equipment, and medications Doctors and Specialists prescribe from the medical system.

The plan of care is constructed from real time levels of activities of daily living, the medication regiman, and the diagnosis. The flow of information maintains a long term view of the interventions required to insure stability in the house hold.

Changes made by specialists (Eye Doctor, Foot Doctor) are recorded in the plan of care and sent to the primary MD. This improves awareness in the prescribing community, and assures the senior the care that is needed.

Home Care Path delivers a plan of care that affords medical providers the information from the home needed to accurately treat the seniors needs.

Home Care Path is a leading senior care provider serving south central Wisconsin. Services include:
-in home staffing for seniors
-inpatient advocacy for safe successful hospital stays
-transitional counseling when more structured service is needed
-down sizing home contents when stuff matters
-temporary assistance with a day surgical procedure
-communicating face to face on the computer across long distances

Simply call 608-432-4286 to schedule an in home interview. Home Care Path is currently transitioning to Microsoft Office 365 .